France fines Google about $593 million over news copyright row

The lawsuit, one of a series that has been filed against Google in the United States, follows complaints about Google's management of its app store, known as the Play Store, even though the company was originally seen as more open than Apple Inc.

France's antitrust watchdog slapped a 500 million euro ($593 million) fine on Alphabet's Google on Tuesday for failing to comply fully with temporary orders it had given in a row with the country's news publishers.

News publishers APIG, SEPM and AFP accuse the tech giant of having failed to open talks in good faith with them to find common ground for the remuneration of news content online, under a recent EU directive that creates so-called "neighbouring rights".

The case in itself focused on whether Google breached temporary orders issued by the antitrust authority, which demanded such talks take place within three months with any news publishers that ask for them.